Yesterday we decided to check out Big Goose Pagoda outside the city walls. It’s located south of the wall. On the map from the hostel, it looks relatively close, but I guess the map isn’t to scale. It took us 4 hours to get there! We were walking slow and taking back alleys, but still! It took us way longer than we expected.

There’s a large fountain out front and a big draw is the big fountain show with the geysers synchronized the music blasting over the loud speakers. We climbed to the top of the pagoda in time to get a great view of the show.

Big Goose Pagoda Fountain Show

The Big Goose Pagoda was built in 652 AD during the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in 704 AD. There’s not much to see in the pagoda itself and honestly, the view when you get to the top is just of the surrounding city streets and tourist vendor stalls.

Big Goose Pagoda

Dacien Si is the temple/working monastery surrounding the pagoda. It’s quite a nice courtyard and garden area to get away from the crowds on the touristy streets, though not the best temple we’ve seen. The area surrounding the temple is packed with crowds eating cotton candy and people taking pictures dressed up in old Tang Dynasty robes.

Young girls dressing in Tang Dynasty costumes

So, not much of an attraction, but it was nice to wander the streets of Xian and eat in a local noodle place next to the university.

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About Me

I love finding the magic in the everyday--it's those little moments that make you smile.

In early 2012, I went on a 4 month trip around Asia with my husband, and here's where we shared our stories and photos! Now we are now living as expats in Nairobi, Kenya (with 2 months in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania first) and will continue to share our adventures here.